Despite claims of "diversity", the arts scene in Australia and other western countries is depressingly uniform. The dominant culture in literature, film, television, theatre, comedy, music and visual art is politically correct in the extreme. This blog includes examples of this bias as well as thoughts on why it has come to be. Written by Perth writer, blogger and comedian Matt Hayden.

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Saturday, March 10, 2012

In the past being an artist required some skill and hard work. Not these days. You just have to use some provocative angle or gimmick that gets you attention easily and call what you're doing art. Then, once you've offended, shocked, or titillated an audience you can bang on pompously about how you are challenging their prejudices, getting them to think anew .. that kind of nonsense.

Deliverance at the Adelaide Fringe Festival is an example of this faux art. Basically, three people with nothing better to do walk into Adelaide's Rymill Park starkers then depend upon the kindness of strangers for clothes, gifts, and food. The whole stupid, pointless exercize goes on for ten days.

They haven't written, prepared or rehearsed anything. They've just got that original "concept" (for want of a better word) and the gall to see it through -- not to mention all that free time to "perform" it in. And they're using the oldest trick in the book to get attention initially: public nudity. It's sooo easy.

I'll bet that many of the idiots who find such a silly stunt so searingly brilliant as art would sneer at pole dancing or stripping. And can you imagine these performance modes being included in the Fringe Festival program? Not on your Nelly!

Sure, they are hardly edifying. But they are actually closer to art since they involve the making of costumes (albeit ones that are discarded pretty soon!) and sometimes even a bit of choreography. They certainly require more skill, preparation and work than has gone into Deliverance.

Here's the retraction episode of This American Life.http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/460/retractionI saw another article online written by someone who worked with Daisey in the early days of the show. They mentioned that Daisey had insisted theatre staff hand out flyers after each show that emphasised it was a true story.

Amazing to hear his excruciatingly long pauses during which he was trying to work out how to avoid admitting that he lied big time -- both to his theatre audiences and the journos on This American Life.